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From today's featured article

Dolly de Leon (born April 12, 1969) is a Filipino actress. De Leon began her career on stage, and made her film debut in Shake, Rattle & Roll III (1991). She was later cast in minor and uncredited roles in films and took on guest parts in television shows. Her breakthrough came in the crime drama Verdict (2019), for which she won a FAMAS Award for Best Supporting Actress. De Leon achieved international recognition and acclaim for her role in Triangle of Sadness (2022), winning the Guldbagge Award and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Performance, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe Award and for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress; she became the first Filipino actress to be nominated for the latter two awards. De Leon co-founded Ladies Who Launch, a social services group that supports disadvantaged communities. British Vogue named her one of the 31 most famous stars in the world in 2023. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Emil Bach House

... that all of the walnut decorations in Chicago's Emil Bach House (pictured) were sourced from a single tree?
... that Waeta Ben Tabusasi went from being a conservation officer to the speaker of his country's parliament?
... that Metallica's "Blackened" became the namesake for a record label and a whiskey brand?
... that After London has been described as a defining work in genres such as Ruined Earth and climate fiction?
... that four-time NAIA scoring champion Grace Beyer has scored more career points than any female basketball player at a four-year college or university?
... that the design of the Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre's hydroslides was inspired by eels?
... that Alamo: The Price of Freedom has been shown continuously at the Rivercenter IMAX in San Antonio, Texas, since March 5, 1988?
... that the reclassification of the species in the beetle genus Caccothryptus was based primarily on their genitals?
... that a Japanese town used its COVID-19 relief funds to build a statue of a squid?

In the news

Azzi Fudd

A nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, kills 226 people.
In basketball, the UConn Huskies win the NCAA Division I women's championship (Most Outstanding Player Azzi Fudd pictured) and the Florida Gators win the men's championship.
In the National Hockey League, Alexander Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals scored.
In horse racing, Nick Rockett, ridden by Patrick Mullins, wins the Grand National.
South Korea's Constitutional Court removes Yoon Suk Yeol as the president of South Korea, following his earlier declaration of martial law.

On this day

April 12: First day of Passover (Judaism, 2025); Third Month Fair begins in southwest China (2025); Cosmonautics Day in Russia; Yuri's Night

Great Fire of Valparaíso

627 – King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised by Bishop Paulinus of York.
1204 – Troops of the Fourth Crusade entered Constantinople and began a sack of the city, temporarily dissolving the Byzantine Empire.
1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was launched in Trieste.
1980 – Samuel Doe took control of Liberia in a coup d'état, overthrowing President William Tolbert and ending over 130 years of national democratic presidential succession.
2014 – A fire broke out near Valparaíso, Chile, eventually destroying at least 2,500 homes and leaving approximately 11,000 people homeless (damage pictured).

Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia (d. 1125)
Nicola Amati (d. 1684)
Zelia Nuttall (d. 1933)

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Today's featured picture

The Bali myna (Leucopsar rothschildi) is a medium-sized bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is found in the north-west of the Indonesian island of Bali, and nearby offshore islands. The Bali myna has a length of around 25 centimetres (9.8 inches) and is almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. It has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow beak. Both sexes are similar. The species is critically endangered and fewer than 50 adults were assumed to exist in the wild in 2020. This Bali myna perching on a branch was photographed in West Bali National Park.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

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